Snow Hides the Footsteps
by mydoctortennant
Summary: Arthur, Morgana, Merlin and Gwen are seperated from the guards as they return from Morgana's annual pilgrimage. Arthur/Gwen slight Merlin/Morgana.


Snow.

It had them stranded, in the middle of the forest. The freaking forest! Surely there should be enough of a canopy to get them as far as they needed, but no.

The ground was hard and harsh on the horses feet, the blizzard-esque weather had meant visibility was poor and Arthur was cursing at himself for being a nice person for a change by saying he would join Morgana on her yearly pilgrimage to her father's grave. They'd not been arguing nearly as much recently and he thought the gesture, at the time of making it, a good one.

Other knights and guards had travelled with them, but somewhere along the way, when they had barely been able to see in front of their faces, the four of them – Arthur, Morgana, Gwen and Merlin – had been separated from them. At least they had managed to stick together. They ended up tethering their horses too each other's and walking along side them in case they slipped on the ever thickening snow.

As they walked the snow crunched beneath their feet, making it near impossible for them to walk at any sort of fast pace.

"It's getting heavier," Merlin stated.

"Really?" Arthur replied sarcastically, "I would never have noticed. We need to find shelter; we won't get back to Camelot tonight."

"And where do you suggest?" Morgana asked, arms wrapped about her person, none of them quite prepared for the adverse weather, it had been perfectly nice when they had left, a little cold maybe, but not quite as horrendous as this.

Arthur looked around trying to see through the snow and figure out where they were; he waved them in a westerly direction, knowing that somewhere over there was a cave. At least that's what he hoped, if his inkling about where they were was correct. It was hard to distinguish trees from bushes and rocks in this weather.

To his relief he was right, and it wasn't long before they were shaking themselves like dogs to rid their clothes of the snow. Tethering the horses to a bush just inside of the cave, they ventures further in, until light became scarce and they were forced to stop so they could still see.

"Merlin, fetch some fire wood," Arthur ordered, taking their remaining supplies from the packs on their horses backs, and heading back into the cave.

Merlin grumbled, "Do this Merlin, do that Merlin. Why can't he get the fire wood? Not like it will light anyway," and he'd be forced to pretend he was a flint genius and magically light the damp wood in front of his friends. Not that ever seemed to notice. They were especially sharp at picking up magic, apart from when it was used right in front of their faces, it seemed.

Gwen had taken to laying down a couple of blankets on the cold rocks for them to sit and sleep on until the storm had passed. Once done, not really knowing what else to do with herself, she sat herself down facing away from the cave entrance.

Morgana had decided on talking to her horse, stroking her hand under its mane and watching Arthur gather supplies from his horses back, "Nobody asked you to come!"

"Where is this argument coming from?" he asked her, they had been silent until her comment, seemingly coming completely out of the blue.

"I know you're angry, you seem touchier than usual."

"Do I indeed?" she nodded, halting her hand movements for a second to take him in. The man who was once the most annoying boy she had ever known, now somebody she would be proud to call a brother; it was just a shame about his father.

"There is something, Arthur; I just don't know what it is, yet."

"Can't I do something nice for you once in a while?"

"Not without wanting something, Arthur. You forget I know how your mind works."

"Come on," he said, putting his satchel over his shoulder, "Guinevere will be wondering where we are," he turned away from her, but the raven haired girl did not move.

"Yes, _Guinevere_ might," she looked passed the future king, looking at her friend and maid elegantly sat on the floor, then focussing on the back of the blonde's head and smirked.

-

Merlin returned fifteen minutes later with a pile of snow covered wood in his hands. His whole person looking like a walking snowman. Morgana laughed first, being the only one with a clear view of the entrance. Merlin shot her a look, and she immediately muted. Then Arthur turned to look over his shoulder and laughed heartily at his servant. Nothing Merlin could do would shut him up. Gwen looked and smiled at him, "Oh Merlin," she said trying her hardest not to giggle at the sight of him.

-

Merlin built the fire in the centre of the ring of belongings and rugs that Gwen had made earlier. His only problem came with the waterlogged wood and the fact that no matter which way he turned, somebody else would see him perform a spell to set the wood alight. He couldn't just try it manually because Arthur would only berate him for being useless for picking wet wood – which wasn't really Merlin's fault, with all the wood being water ridden.

Still, he needed to get them out of the way, they might be blind to his magic a lot of the time, but not in this close proximity with them circled around him; "Gwen, could you help me unsaddle the horses?" Merlin turned to see Arthur standing. If he didn't know better there would have been a questioning look on his face, instead he smirked. Arthur caught his eye, and scowled at him, not berating him in front of his sister.

"Of course," she replied, not odd behaviour from Gwen at all, considering it was in her job to abide by orders given to her, Merlin saw her happily stand to follow the Prince.

He turned his body to watch the pair depart, Morgana seated behind him; "How long has he been in love with Gwen?"

"Who?" he replied, after all, he had been threatened on pain of death, so he didn't dare tell – well, if it was anybody but Morgana. It wasn't like Morgana was going to tell Uther about it, she would probably revel knowing something he didn't.

"Arthur, of course."

"I dunno. Since before you were taken, and she needed rescuing."

"I gathered as much. I've known Arthur a long time. He'd never go after a servant, not even for me. There had to be something more."

"Oh there was," Merlin grinned, smile stretching from ear to ear. Morgana laughed, smiling back at him. He caught her gaze for a moment, holding it. Her grin slowly lessened, serenely looking at him. After a moment he coughed, turning his back to her and pretending to strike the flints against one another, quietly muttering the spell under his breath.

"You are very good at that, Merlin. One would suspect you of sorcery," Morgana joked from behind him.

"Not me, my lady," he said, rubbing his hands on his trousers and sitting back from the small fire next to the young Sorceress.

-

There were times when Merlin didn't think it fair that he was allowed to know about Morgana and her magic, but not divulge anything to her about his own power. Gaius forbade it, and the Dragon had told him time and time again that it was better if she didn't know the extent of her power, in that he thought it best to hide the extent of his too – by not telling her at all.

Now was one of those times.

He regretted that he could not tell any of those he was close to. Especially Arthur. In a moment he had been given hope that maybe one day he would be able to reveal his secret and Arthur would not turn him in, not have him killed for a power he could not help having. Then that hope was lost. Uther had managed to convince his son, once again, that magic was nothing but evil, and no good could come of it.

It was times like that, that Merlin wished himself normal.

Uther had even thanked him for his alliance in the fight against magic, the irony of it!

Sitting in silence next to Morgana wasn't the best way Merlin could have thought of spending his time. Especially not when he didn't have anything in particular to talk about other than Arthur and Gwen and their lack of discretion around them. Merlin often wondered if anybody else knew about the pair of them. Some of the looks they gave each other weren't exactly discrete.

It wouldn't be long until Uther noticed, if he hadn't already. Merlin didn't honestly believe the king to be that blind, he didn't think anybody who was in the same room with the pair for longer than five minutes could be blind to them. Uther had certainly spent a lot of time in the presence of the both of them at meals and court gatherings as Gwen attended to Morgana. He wouldn't be surprised if a few of the higher ranking Knight's hadn't seen half of what Merlin had seen.

"They're taking their time."

"Perhaps the horses are messing," Merlin reasoned, looking to the front of the cave and seeing exactly what Morgana was; the Prince and the Handmaiden talking to each other without much of a care in the world. Gwen was even laughing, looking at her feet. The spectators looked on as the blonde reached out his hand and ran his fingers over her darker cheek.

"Or perhaps they are," Morgana joked, Merlin smirked, laughing slightly.

-

Arthur could feel eyes on him as he broke a twig into small pieces, throwing them into the fire and watching them catch alight. Merlin was napping against the wall, arms folded against his chest. Gwen was curled against the boulders. So he knew it had to be Morgana staring him down.

"What do you want, Morgana?"

"Nothing," she sounded far too pleased with herself to not want anything.

"We both know that's not true, Morgana," he saw her gather her skirts and shuffle over to sit next to him, she shot her a sideways glance and threw the remaining part of the twig into the fire.

"Come on, Arthur," she said, picking up a twig and copying her adoptive brother, "There's no point trying to hide it," he brought his knees towards his chest, circling his arms around them.

"Hide what, Morgana?" he looked at her, the fire reflected in her eyes. It reminded him of staying a Gwen's the only light by a few candles and the fire. The way it lit the loose stands of her hair, made her skin glow.

"Don't even bother, Arthur. I can see you're in love with her," he sighed, drawn from his thoughts he picked up another piece of kindling and fiddled with it as Morgana scrutinised his features for any possible signs he may have been giving her.

"Well then I'd better hide it a little bit better, if you saw it."

"I'm not blind, Arthur."

"Really?" he joked. Although the pair could fight better than a pair of territorial cats, he still viewed her as one of his closest friends. There was a time he'd thought himself in line for courting her, not through any choice of his own, but she was the daughter of his father's best friend, everybody in the kingdom had been awaiting the announcement to come, but it never did. Now they were waiting for the announcement of Arthur's engagement to some broad that none of them knew. But that wasn't coming either.

"If Merlin can see it, everybody else can."

"What's he said to you?" anger rose within Arthur, he had told the servant if he had told another living soul he'd make his life a living hell. And he wasn't going back on his word.

"Nothing. He didn't need to. You weren't exactly discreet, were you?" Morgana was insufferable when she was right, and there was no way she was going to let this one go. Arthur's feelings towards Gwen weren't dishonourable, but he knew that Morgana viewed her as a sister. He knew what he would do if any man dared look at Morgana in the way he knew he looked a Gwen. He also knew that Morgana would do it with more style and class than he would. He rather liked his head attached to his shoulders.

"I'm going to sleep," he threw the piece of kindling into the fire and wiped his hands on his tunic.

"Not denying it then?"

He didn't say another word, pushing himself from the floor and pulling the blanket from beneath Morgana and heading towards Merlin and taking a seat next to him, leaning against the wall of the cave to sleep. He shut his eyes, and turned away from Morgana. He didn't want to talk about it, he knew he could be a little bit obvious, but it was so hard to hide when he didn't think it should be hidden. He didn't care that she was below him. That he shouldn't love her because he wasn't worthy of him. Because she was.

He couldn't see how anybody else was more worthy than her. She was nobility in mind, even if not in birth.

Morgana couldn't help but laugh to herself and shake her head as Arthur moved away from her. She had known him since she was ten years old. It didn't take a genius to read him. He wasn't as good at finding his feelings as he thought. If Merlin could see it, well, it couldn't be that well hidden at all.

She had never known Arthur go against his father's word quite so feverishly as he had when leaving to find Gwen from Hengist's palace, and the first thing he had said to Morgana when they had found her in the forest was "Where's Guinevere?" not even asking Morgana if she was okay. It didn't take much to piece it all together from there.

Morgana sighed, and set herself up for sleep.

-

The next morning the snow was still falling. It had slowed during the night meaning that there were only a few inches covering the woodland ground, but on the turn of the dawn the flakes had succumbed to pressure and were falling at such a force that visibility was worse than it had been when they'd been forced to take cover.

Morgana and Gwen had set about making breakfast with few of the rations that they had packed. Merlin and Arthur were busy assessing the weather situation, and deciding whether it was worth the risk of braving the snow to make it back to Camelot.

On walking a few steps into the chilled morning Arthur made his decision. Landing flat on his back having slipped a few feet and unable to grab anything to keep him upright, he decided that it was best they stayed in the cave at least until the snow had ceased falling. Merlin – through his incessant laughter – agreed.

"What's the verdict?" Morgana asked as she stirred the pot, on Gwen's instructions. They were lucky they'd been the ones with the pots and pans in the packs. It was a servant's job to cook, of course, leaving Merlin and Gwen with the duty of carrying the equipment in their saddle bags.

"With Arthur's impressive agile display," he made a point of brushing off the remaining snow from the Prince's shoulder as he spoke, "He has decided that it is best we stay put."

"Yes, thank you Merlin!" Merlin ducked out of the way of Arthur's swatting hand and laughed along with the two females. Arthur – pouting – sat down on the arranged blankets and held his hands out to warm them with the heat of the fire.

"Do we have enough food?" was Gwen's first question. Arthur looked up at her, and then to Merlin, who shrugged.

"Then we shall have to go hunting."

"In this weather, my lord?"

"She has a point, Arthur. How far do you think you can get without falling next time?" Morgana reprimanded, having been deprived of teasing privileged the night before, she didn't see why she should fall short now.

"Who said you were allowed to side with Merlin?"

"I did," she shrugged, stirring the content of the pot and looking at Gwen for approval. The dark skinned servant nodded and held out a bowl. Morgana laughed at she dished some of the hot mixture into it. Gwen passed the first of the bowls to Arthur, knowing fully well that Porridge was one of his least favourite meals, but it was the best she could do with so little ingredients.

"Thank you, Guinevere."

"Try to enjoy it, my lord," Arthur smiled warily at her. As much as he trusted Gwen's cooking abilities he had never seen the pleasantries in eating soggy mashed paper.

The second of the bowls Gwen left for Morgana, as her mistress filled the final two bowls. Merlin was seated further from the group so Gwen carried his bowl to him, and offered him a spoon before she walked back to the fire. It was warmer than trying to wrap herself in a blanket. She sat between Morgana and Arthur, tucking her feet beneath herself.

They ate in silence. Even Arthur was pleasantly surprised at how Gwen had managed to make the usually bland breakfast taste, and he was shovelling it into his mouth at a pace. The warmth of it soothed his throat, and warmed his insides out. Though the cave gave them great coverage, it was still chilly, and Gwen's occasional shivers hadn't gone unnoticed to the Prince.

He shifted his weight, pulling the blanket from beneath him. He placed his bowl on the floor of the cave beside him and hooked the blanket around Gwen's shoulders. He no longer cared that Morgana was smiling at him goofily and watching his every move. Gwen smiled at him, and tugged the blanket around her shoulders, quietly thanking the Prince, hiding herself behind her hand as she spooned another mouthful of porridge into her mouth.

-

Merlin found it somewhat amusing that the longer they spent in the cave, the lower Arthur's defences got. He wouldn't openly admit anything, but he wasn't trying to hide his feelings. He was helping her at any giving opportunity.

When dinner had come around, he'd helped her by cutting up the remaining vegetables that they had bought with them. Merlin and Morgana had opted to go into the snow and collect some in the cooking pot to melt down for water for the soup. On their returned they stood back and watched on as Gwen reached around Arthur, taking a hold of his hand and guiding it, helping him chop the carrot. The look of concentration on his face made Merlin chuckle, the laughter coming from Gwen made her mistress smile.

Morgana cleared her throat, motioning for Merlin to go ahead and take the pot to Gwen; "Don't let us interrupt, carry on," Gwen blushed, removing her arms from around the Prince and seating herself next to the fire and stirring the snow.

It melted slowly. Gwen adding the ingredients that the soup required, Arthur finished cutting the vegetables with a slow, perfectionists touch. He wanted to make sure it was faultless; he didn't want to ruin Gwen's efforts.

"Thank you," Arthur smiled in return and sat back to relax and wait for the soup to cook.

-

The two girls had wrapped themselves up warm to make their way into the snow to wash the pots and dishes in the stream that was near by. The water ice cold, but running by faster enough that it swilled the remaining food off the pieces and made them clean enough for storing.

"Is there something you want to get off your chest, my lady?" Gwen asked shaking off one of the final pieces and placing it back in the sack.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Gwen."

"You've got that look about you, that you know something I don't."

"I'm certain you know," Morgana replied, drying her hands on the material of her cloak, "Arthur has never had a way with subtly."

"My lady-"

"Gwen, you don't have to explain yourself to me. I understand. I know that he cares for you. Anyone can see it," Gwen looked away from her, watching the water run over the pebbles at the base of the stream. The cold was nipping at her skin, but her cheeks were flushed.

"It's not rational," Gwen said.

"Love rarely is. It'll all work out in the end. You'll see," the thing was Morgana could never tell Gwen how she knew that. She couldn't tell her of the dreams, she couldn't tell her how most of the time the dreams she had had some sort of truth that rang true. She couldn't tell her that she had seen Arthur as King, and she most certainly couldn't tell her who was sat at his side.

"You can not be sure of that, my lady."

"One day you will be my equal, if anything my superior."

-

The night came around faster than Gwen had expected. Doing practically nothing all day had left her exhausted and cold. Despite being wrapped in a blanket and sat next to a naked flame, Gwen was still cold. She felt the shivers run down her spine, visible shuddering trying to fight it.

The arm that looped around her shoulders offered her the warmth she so desperately craved. Without thinking she turned into the person's chest, and breathed a heavy breath. She could feel the rushing beat of his heart beneath the taut muscles of his chest. She was too tired to argue with the publicity of the situation, but she could trust Morgana not to spread word to Uther, and Merlin had already proved that he wouldn't.

Gwen was beyond the point of being able to sense the eyes on her back, watching her every move. Watching her bury her head into the crook of Arthur's neck, closing her eyes and letting the sleep that grasped her eyelids and force her body to relax.

Arthur looked down on her, running his fingers over her arm. He sighed, looking into the fire and watching the flames lick at the wood Merlin had managed to collect. He could hear the soft snores of his manservant coming from the right of him. Morgana situated to his left, watching him and his unconscious actions.

He leant his cheek onto the top of her head. On hearing a small chortle of laughter his gaze was drawn to Morgana.

"I'm not saying anything," Arthur rolled his eyes. Shaking his head and looking back at the fire. A few loose strands of hair fell onto Gwen's shoulder, catching with Arthur's tracing fingertips as her ran them over the blanket across her shoulders. He turned the curls in his fingers, causing Gwen to move herself into Arthur more. He smiled to himself, quietly yawning.

-

Morgana sat in silence. Sleep was soon to take her like it had the other three people in her company. Arthur had fallen asleep not long after Gwen, and he slumped back against the rock, Gwen still curled into him. Merlin had been asleep for an hour or so already, gently snoring and occasionally mumbled some unclear words.

Standing, Morgana picked up one of the blankets and laid it over the two sleeping bodies. As he slept, Arthur grabbed a hold of the edge of the blanket, pulling it further over the pair of them. Morgana couldn't help but smile, and feel like maybe it was one of those things that were pre-ordained. Of all of those things, she knew that this was probably the one that she was most concerned for. There were so many things that stood in their way.

-

Over the course of the night, Arthur had slid to lie on the floor, guiding Gwen with him. He slowly woke, the fresh air waking him. He stirred, breathing in a mouthful of Gwen's hair. He coughed, disturbing Gwen and waking her as his chest moved with the hack of the cough.

"Good morning," she mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes of the sleep that had built up there.

"Guinevere," he nodded, clearing his throat, "I," he paused, swallowing his words before starting again, "I should check on the weather," the hopeful look on Gwen's face disappeared, and she smiled awkwardly before nodding.

They had little food left. They had near stale bread and a few lumps of cheese, but if they couldn't return to the castle today they would have to go hungry. Gwen watched Merlin stir from his sleep, wishing her a good morning and sitting up, rubbing his arms for warmth.

"The snow has stopped. We should be able to make a move in a couple of hours," Arthur cleared his throat, "I'm going to feed and water the horses. Merlin," the young servant got to his feet, following after the Prince into the cold weather.

In a matter of hours they would be back in the warmth of the castle. Back to a usual world where Arthur was the Crowned Prince of Camelot, where Gwen was his father's Ward's handmaiden. Where Merlin was a bumbling idiot and Morgana was her elegant, regal self.

Gwen started folding the blankets and packing them into the saddle bags. She thought of Morgana's words, and discarded them as false hopes, and the stupid ideals she had built in her head over the last couple of days. That can be the only place for such thoughts, her head. If they ever ventured from there trouble could erupt for everybody.

Letting go was the best option. Again.

-

Snow.

It had fallen for three days straight and as the four youths finally managed to find their way back to Camelot, they couldn't help but marvel at the sights that beheld them. The fields that led to the city were coated in white. A blanket covering the brutality of the world.

As they made their way through the lower town, they encountered young children building snowmen, teenagers who had been let off work throwing snowballs and ducking behind ice walls. Mothers and fathers watched on as their children played, everybody in high spirits laughter reaching their ears as they let the horses guide them home.


End file.
